Display and storage holder for containers



G. MICHEL Marh 20, 1956 DISPLAY AND STORAGE HOLDER FOR CONTAINERS Filed April .10, 1951 '2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 6 /A0 W/JHH G. MICHEL March 20, 1956 DISPLAY AND STORAGE HOLDER FOR CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 10. 1951 16 as .9-"- ea A 770RNE Y United States Patent DISPLAY AND STORAGE HOLDER FOR CONTAINERS This invention relates to a display and storage holder for containers such as food packages, cigarette boxes and the like.

One object of the invention is to provide a holder cheap in manufacture and enabling to grip the first of a row of containers firmly against an abutment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a holder of the kind described which may be used on existing shelves in stores and the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a holder fitted with means for holding the containers between an abutment and a slide urged by a spring against the abutment and a guide for said slide.

The nature of my invention will be understood when described in connection with the accompanying drawing in which: A

Fig. 1 shows a side sectional view of a first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 a view of this first embodiment,

Fig. 3 a side sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 4 a top view of the embodiment of Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 a sectional view along the line V-V of Fig. 3.

The holder as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has a slide 1 formed by a case-like member of sheet metal open at opposite ends. Within the case 1 which is formed with an opening at its base defined by a slit 2, the sheet metal blank from which the slide is formed is retrovertly bent to form a sleeve 3. This sleeve serves to receive a rolled or coiled band 6 of resilient material. The outer end of this band is bent backwards to form a hook 5 and the free end of the band is drawn through a slit 4 in the sleeve 3 and the adjoining slit 2 and the hook is held by a strip 7 secured on the forward end of a shelf 8. On the forward end of .the shelf 8 an abutment 9 is mounted and the rear edge of the shelf bears a bead 10.

A row of containers 11 such as cigar or cigarette boxes are disposed between the abutment 9 and the slide 1, the coiled spring band 6 urging the containers together and against the abutment 9. In order to maintain the containers in a row a rod 12 is arranged on each side of the row, the rods 12 being received at one end in a recess 13 of the abutment and at the other end in a notch 14 of a bracket 15 secured to the bead 10.

The holder shown in the Figs. 3 to 5 is designed for heavy containers or packages 16. In this case the packages do not lie directly on the, shelves 17 but on a 2,738,881 Patented Mar. 20, 1956 lattice 17a formed by parallel rods 18 secured to a band 19 of textile material. One end of this band 19 is secured to a slide 20 and the end is secured to the end of a coiled flat spring 21 wound under tension upon a shaft 22. The shaft 22 is non-rotatably held in side walls 23 of the holder and the inner end of the flat spring 21 is secured to the shaft 22. On the forward end the lattice 17a runs over acylinder 24 rotatable on a shaft 25 held between the side walls 23.

The lowest part of the first container 16 in the row abuts against an abutment 26.

Rollers 27 which are rotatably held in channel like bars 28 are arranged underneath the lattice 17a to support the latter.

In both embodiments shown and described the abutment may be made of transparent material to allow the reading of printing on the containers over the whole area of their exposed face.

What I claim is:

A display and storage holder for containers and the like parallelepipedal objects comprising, in combination, means defining a supporting surface formed with an abutment at one end against which the containers are pressed, a slide member slidable over said supporting surface for pressing said containers against said abutment, said slide member being formed from a continuous metal web which extends upwardly to define a planar forward surface for engagement with the containers, rearwardly to define a top surface, downwardly to define a rear surface and forwardly to a point short of said forward surface to define a surface slidable on said supporting surface and an entrance opening at the bottom of said member, an end portion of said web extending upwardly and being curved to define a cylindrical chamber having a gap in its wall communicating with said opening,

a coil spring freely coiled in said chamber, said coil spring normally tending to wind itself up but adapted to have one end drawn out from the coil in said chamber, the inner end of said coil spring being slidably secured within said cylindrical chamber and the forward free end of said spring extending through said gap and said opening and being secured to said supporting surface to draw said slide toward said abutment, whereby when said slide is moved away from said abutment the end of said spring is drawn out from the coil in said slide and said slide is constantly under traction in the direction of said abutment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 153,227 Walker July 21, 1874 1,271,508 Hall July 2, 1918 1,674,582 Wheeler June 19, 1928 1,910,516 Besenberg et a1 May 23, 1933 2,076,941 Farr Apr. 13, 1937 2,284,849 Schreyer June 2, 1942 2,308,851 Anderson Ian. 19, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 583,543 Great Britain Dec. 20, 1946 

